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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26119786">Mistress for a Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefunphone/pseuds/thefunphone'>thefunphone</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Touhou Project</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Role Reversal, Romance, sakuya is trans and you can't change my mind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:01:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26119786</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefunphone/pseuds/thefunphone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Remilia finds out that Sakuya and Meiling have started dating, she decides to prove that she can be respectful of their wants and needs by... being their maid for a night.  Remilia has never done a day's work in her life so this will certainly turn out well.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hong Meiling/Izayoi Sakuya</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 1</p>
<p>	It was evening at the Scarlet Devil Mansion and the waxing crescent moon hung high in the air.  Remilia Scarlet, the mistress of the manor, sipped her tea as she sat by a second floor window and watched the front gate.  Next to her sat her long time friend, Patchouli Knowledge, who was busy reading an old tome while ignoring the coffee that had been so lovingly prepared for her.</p>
<p>	Remilia couldn’t have been more bored.  The courtyard was nearly devoid of anything of interest or activity, save for the occasional fairy maid passing through, but it was important that she keep watch for now.  The guest bedroom she was in wasn’t one that she normally had tea in, in fact she almost never even came in here, but it had a good view of the front gate, which is what mattered.</p>
<p>“Patchy, are you going to help me keep watch or not?” said Remilia, after a while of silence.</p>
<p>“You’ve got two working eyes, don’t you?” said Patchouli without looking away from her book.</p>
<p>“Wha- Patchy!  You’d said you’d help me!”</p>
<p>“Yeah, only because you wouldn’t stop pestering me and were being loud in the library.  I still think you should just ask her directly instead of spying like this.”</p>
<p>“I already told you, Sakuya has been less attentive lately, and one of the maids said she’s been going out the front gate without telling anyone.  If she’s trying to keep a secret, then she’s probably not just going to tell me about it because I ask.  This way I get to find out for sure,” said Remilia, proud of her perfect logic.</p>
<p>“And what if she’s preparing a surprise for you?  Wouldn’t snooping around like this just ruin the fun?”</p>
<p>“Of course not!  If I know beforehand, then I can prepare a counter surprise and I’ll be the winner!”</p>
<p>“Uh, Remi that’s not-”</p>
<p>“Oh!  Shh shh shh!  She’s here!”</p>
<p>	Patchouli was getting a little annoyed at this point, but regardless, she put her book down and moved over to the window to look out too.  Walking across the courtyard was a silver-haired young woman in a maid outfit.  It was Sakuya Izayoi, the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion.  Once she made it about halfway across, Sakuya paused and looked around.  After a few moments of this, she appeared satisfied that there was definitely no one watching her, and she continued to the front gate.  To the left of the large, main gate was a smaller, pedestrian gate.  Sakuya opened it and stood there, it looked like she was talking to someone, but at this point it was getting a bit difficult to tell what was happening.</p>
<p>“I want to hear what’s happening, can’t you cast a spell or something?” asked Remilia.</p>
<p>“You know, this is a seriously an invasion of her privacy,” said Patchouli as a small, magic sigil appeared in the air between them.</p>
<p>“-on’t worry, I checked earlier and the aphids are all gone,” came a voice from the sigil.</p>
<p>	It was unmistakably the voice of Hong Meiling, the gardener and gate guard for the mansion.  This didn’t come as a surprise as, logically speaking, this was the most likely person for her to be talking to.</p>
<p>“That’s good,” said Sakuya, “then we just need to finish with the last section and we’ll be done.  I’m sure it’ll look beautiful when it’s finished.”</p>
<p>“That’s true, but it’ll never look as beautiful as you.”</p>
<p>“Oh stop it Meiling, you shouldn’t be flirting while you’re working you know.”</p>
<p>“No?  Then I guess I shouldn’t give you any kisses while we’re working either.”</p>
<p>“Well… Perhaps one wouldn’t hur-”</p>
<p>	Sakuya’s voice cut out as the sigil suddenly disappeared.</p>
<p>“Ha ha, um, I guess she, uh, really did have a surprise for us, huh Remi?” asked Patchouli.</p>
<p>	Remilia just stared at Patchouli for a moment, a look of mixed confusion and annoyance on her face.</p>
<p>“Why did you stop the spell?  We didn’t even find out what she was doing.”</p>
<p>	Then it was Patchouli’s turn to look confused.</p>
<p>“I… What?  Wasn’t it obvious by the way they were talking to each other and the stuff they said?”</p>
<p>“Nnnno?  Sakuya talks like that to everyone, doesn’t she?  She’s nice but serious, that’s what makes her such a good maid.  And Meiling is always joking around.  I don’t see how any of that was weird.”</p>
<p>“I mean, I’m pretty sure they’re in a relationship, Remi.”</p>
<p>“Well yeah, they’re friends, obviously.  I think after knowing each other for so many years that would only be natural.”</p>
<p>“I, ugh,” Patchouli rubbed her hand on her forehead in exasperation, “I mean a dating relationship.  Lovers.  With hugging and kissing and stuff.”</p>
<p>	Hearing that, Remilia burst out laughing.</p>
<p>“Now you’re just being silly, Patchy, if that was the case, don’t you think they would have told me already?” Remilia asked as she wiped a tear from her eye.  “I think you’ve been reading a few too many romance novels.  ‘The maid and the gardener, sneaking off during work to whisper sweet nothings to each other.’  Heh, that’s way too cheesy!”</p>
<p>“But that’s… That’s literally what’s happening...”</p>
<p>“Oh please Patchy, if you ship them that hard then why don’t you go write a fanfic or something?  Actually, don’t.  That’s creepy.  But anyway, I think you might have been right before, I’ll just ask her what’s going on.”</p>
<p>	As Patchouli watched Remilia walk out the door, she had to fight back the incredibly powerful urge to destroy everything in the room.</p>
<p>	Remilia made her way downstairs, and along the way she thought of fun ways to bring up the topic to Sakuya.  Like maybe…</p>
<p>“Listen here Sakuya, you’ll never believe the hilarious thing Patchy said to me.”</p>
<p>	Or maybe…</p>
<p>“So how’s the front gate looking?  You should know since you’ve been out there so much.”</p>
<p>	Or perhaps a more direct approach would be better…</p>
<p>“So Sakuya, do you like-like Meiling?”</p>
<p>	Just asking her straight out would probably be better, since they weren’t really dating anyway, if she tried to beat around the bush she wouldn’t get anything out of it.  Then again though, on the off chance that Patchouli was right, then being a bit coy would mean that she’d get to see all kinds of goofy, flustered reactions from Sakuya.  Decisions decisions.</p>
<p>	Remilia went into the parlor and sat down in a big armchair.  She called over one of the fairy maids and asked them to fetch Sakuya when they saw her.  While she was waiting, she got out a fine drinking glass and poured herself a cup of vintage blood.  She hadn’t actually done that on her own in quite a while, since she usually had a maid do it for her, so she ended up spilling a little.  She would have to have Sakuya clean that up later.  She then sat back down in her chair, held up the glass, and rested her arm in a sort of mischievous, haughty looking pose.  She sat there like this, perfectly still, for about ten minutes.  She was starting to believe that the fairy had forgotten her request, but then the door slowly opened.</p>
<p>	When Sakuya walked in the room, she saw her mistress, sitting in a chair, with a scheming look on her face.  Whatever it was she wanted now, it was probably going to be fun for her, and troublesome for Sakuya.  She probably just wanted to throw another party, or maybe she wanted a difficult dish prepared since that’s usually what this situation meant.  In any case, she would have to try and deal with it soon if she wanted to get back to her normal tasks.</p>
<p>“Mistress Remilia, I’m very sorry for keeping you waiting.  I came as soon as I heard you wanted me.”</p>
<p>“It’s alright Sakuya, but I am curious, what is it you were doing?” said Remilia, taking a sip from her glass.</p>
<p>“I was just checking on Meiling, I wanted to make sure she was feeling alright, and to see that she wasn’t sleeping on the job.”</p>
<p>“You were checking on her?  Is something wrong?”</p>
<p>“Well… Yesterday she mentioned that she was feeling a little off and I wanted to know if she was any better today.  After all, it wouldn’t do to have our gate guard fall ill.”</p>
<p>“So you’ve been checking on her every day then?  Sakuya, rather than a maid, you sound more like a doting wife!” Remilia emphasized this with a laugh, but never took her eyes off of Sakuya.  “I’m kidding, of course, but that’s what Patchy seems to believe.  Isn’t that silly?”</p>
<p>	Sakuya didn’t know what to say.  She knew she’d need to have this conversation at some point, but she hadn’t actually figured out the right way to bring it up.</p>
<p>“Actually, Mistress, she isn’t that far off,” Sakuya said meekly.</p>
<p>“Hee hee, I… Wait, what?”</p>
<p>“I, well, the truth is Meiling and I have… entered into a romantic relationship, so to speak,” Sakuya said, as a blush crept onto her cheeks.</p>
<p>	The smile left Remilia’s face and she almost dropped her glass.  Was Patchouli actually right about them?</p>
<p>“You-  Wait, I’m sorry, you two are dating?  Seriously?  For how long?” Remilia asked with slightly more intensity than she intended.</p>
<p>“It’s only been a few weeks.  She suddenly confessed to me and, well...”</p>
<p>	Remilia paused.  She closed her eyes, and thought for a moment.  She wasn’t angry, caught a bit off guard perhaps, but there was one thing that was bugging her.</p>
<p>“Sakuya, why didn’t you tell me this earlier?  Did you think I would be opposed to your relationship?”</p>
<p>“Well, Mistress, it’s just, how do I say this?  It’s just that...” Sakuya paused and broke eye contact, as she looked for anything else to focus on.</p>
<p>“It’s what?!  What is it?!”</p>
<p>“It’s just that you’re controlling!”</p>
<p>	Sakuya closed her eyes and winced as she said that, as if she had been struck with a sharp pain.  The room was silent as both of them let the comment settle in.</p>
<p>“Controlling?  What do you mean controlling?”</p>
<p>“Well, if you’ll forgive me for being a bit direct, when something is happening around the mansion, but it isn’t about you or doesn’t involve you, you tend to try and make it about yourself.  And!  And normally that’s fine!  I think it’s very endearing in fact, Mistress, but this one time I just... I suppose I wanted to have something for myself.”</p>
<p>“Sakuya, you know that I trust both your opinion and your judgment, right?”</p>
<p>“I do.”</p>
<p>“That being said, that’s completely not true!  When have I ever tried to make things about myself?”</p>
<p>“There was that time when Patchouli tried to start a book club-”</p>
<p>“I only took over that because the books she was picking were super boring!”</p>
<p>“There was also the time when you said you wanted to try some of Meiling’s personally made tea, and then insisted she should stop drinking it because you didn’t like the flavor.”</p>
<p>“Even if she’s just a guard, she still deserves to drink good tea, I was doing her a favor!” said Remilia, getting agitated.</p>
<p>“There was also the time when Koakuma was knitting a sweater-”</p>
<p>“That’s enough, Sakuya.  Look, I understand your concern, but there’s nothing to worry about.  So long as you live in this mansion, your love will always be protected and celebrated, understand?”</p>
<p>“I-” Sakuya sighed, “yes, Mistress.”</p>
<p>“Good, now return to your duties.”</p>
<p>	Sakuya left the room and shut the door.  Remilia walked over to the window and looked out at the moon as she finished drinking the blood from her glass.  Controlling?  Self-centered?  Sakuya was obviously just imagining things.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 2</p>
<p>	The rest of the night passed without incident.  Under normal circumstances, Sakuya would have served Remilia tea at 3 a.m. but after the conversation they had earlier, she opted to have one of the other maids do it for her.  She half expected Remilia to send the maid away and insist that Sakuya serve the tea, but Remilia never called for her.  Near the break of dawn, Sakuya went to the front gate one more time to visit Meiling.</p>
<p>“Hello Meiling, your shift is almost over,” said Sakuya as she stepped through the gate.</p>
<p>“Hm?  Oh, hello there.  It seems like the cute head maid just couldn’t stay away, huh?” said Meiling with a big smile.</p>
<p>“Didn’t I tell you earlier that you shouldn’t be flirting while you’re working?”</p>
<p>“You also just said that my shift is almost over.  Come on Sakuya, it’s not like Remilia is going to find out.”</p>
<p>	Sakuya paused and gave Meiling a look that she hoped would convey all the information from her conversation earlier.</p>
<p>“Sakuya?  Is something wrong?  You’ve got a weird look on your face.”</p>
<p>	Or not.  While not stupid, Meiling was a little dense at times.</p>
<p>“I spoke with our mistress about us a few hours ago and told her about our relationship.”</p>
<p>“Ah, so that’s how it is.  Was she okay with it?  Er, wait, you’re not here to break up with me, right?”</p>
<p>“No, Meiling,” Sakuya said with a little laugh, “I’m not breaking up with you.  Mistress Remilia seemed fine with us being together, but there was, ah, another issue.  I may have, well, I may have said a little too much when I was explaining why I hadn’t mentioned our relationship to her earlier.”</p>
<p>“What’d you say?  Did you tell her about yesterday in my room when we-”</p>
<p>“No!  It wasn’t about that.  I told her that she could be controlling about things that didn’t involve her, and she seemed to take offense to that.  Even if it was the truth, I probably should have tried putting it more gently than I did.”</p>
<p>	Meiling wrapped her arms around Sakuya and pulled her into a hug.  She held her tight for a long moment and then kissed her gently on the top of her head.</p>
<p>“It’s okay sweetie, you’ve been with us for how many decades now?  Remilia loves you, everyone does, I’m sure if you apologize to her tomorrow she’ll forget all about it.”</p>
<p>	Sakuya looked up to meet Meiling’s gaze.  Her girlfriend was giving her a big, gentle smile, and seeing that made all her worries melt away.  She leaned in and gave Meiling a soft kiss on the lips.</p>
<p>“Thank you.  You always know just what to say.”</p>
<p>“Of course, now how about we go have some hot chocolate or something, my treat.”</p>
<p>	When Sakuya woke the next evening, she felt refreshed and confident that she’d be able to clear the air with Remilia.  After putting her uniform on, she had to shake Meiling a little to get her to wake up.</p>
<p>“Meiling, if you don’t get up right now, you’re not getting any breakfast, you know.”</p>
<p>	Meiling bolted up and stumbled over herself as she rushed to get out of bed.  Content with that, Sakuya left for the kitchen.  Sakuya was responsible for most of the cooking in the mansion, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, whatever it was that someone wanted to eat, it was her responsibility to make sure that the food ended up prepared.  She occasionally would have some of the fairy maids do it for her, but like with most other tasks in the house, if she wasn’t very specific about how the task needed to be done, then it would probably be done wrong.  This was why Sakuya was a bit confused as she walked towards the kitchen and saw two worried looking maids exiting while a few others looked in from around the doorway.</p>
<p>“Oh!  Miss Sakuya,” said one of the maids quietly, noticing her approach.</p>
<p>	The maid rushed over to Sakuya with a slight look of panic on her face but spoke in a whisper.</p>
<p>“The mistress has been acting strange since she woke up.  She dressed and came downstairs without waiting for anyone to assist her, and then she began preparing breakfast on her own, and it’s well...”</p>
<p>“Ow!  Darn it!” came Remilia’s voice from the kitchen.</p>
<p>	Sakuya quickly thanked the maid and headed into the other room.  There was a distinct smell of something burning and smoke was rising from a pan on the stove.  She quickly went over to turn the flame off, but just as she was about to, someone else reached out and grabbed her hand.</p>
<p>“Now now Mistress Sakuya, it’s rude to interrupt someone while they’re cooking,” said Remilia.</p>
<p>	Sakuya turned to see Remilia holding a spatula in her other hand and… wait, Mistress Sakuya?  Did she just hear that right?</p>
<p>“Er, Mistress, is everything alright?” asked Sakuya, confused.</p>
<p>“Oh more than alright, but for today I’m not ‘Mistress Remilia.’  You see, I thought a lot about what you said yesterday and so I’ve decided to give you a day just for you and Meiling!  I’ll show you exactly how selfless and not controlling I can be!  So for now...”</p>
<p>	Remilia took off both her own and Sakuya’s hats and switched them.</p>
<p>“...You be ‘Mistress Sakuya,’ and I’ll be ‘Head Maid Remilia!’” said Remilia with a big, satisfied grin on her face.</p>
<p>	Sakuya was completely dumbfounded.  She knew Remilia was prone to doing things on a whim, but this was just…  She really didn’t know what to say.  Could she even reasonably argue against being given a day off?  For a long moment, she just stared at Remilia.</p>
<p>“Well then, Mistress, your food is almost done, so why don’t you go wait at the table for me to serve you two.”</p>
<p>	Sakuya just nodded and walked out into the dining room while ignoring the equally confused looks coming from the other maids.  The dining room was large and had a long table fit to sit fourteen people at it.  It was used during most meals, even if it was only fully filled during parties.  Just as Sakuya sat down in one of the chairs at the side of the table, a yawning Meiling walked in from the hall.</p>
<p>“Hm?  Oh, hey there sweetie, is everything alright?  Also, uh, what’s with the hat?  Isn’t that Remilia’s?” said Meiling as she sat down next to Sakuya.</p>
<p>“I, well...” Sakuya paused for a moment as she rubbed her forehead, “it would seem that our mistress has decided to give us the day off, and she will be acting as head maid in the meantime.”</p>
<p>“Ah, Remilia sure does have her own ways of expressing herself, ha ha.”</p>
<p>“Yes, but I’m a bit concerned, I was in the kitchen and-”</p>
<p>“Okay, Mistresses, your breakfast is served!” said Remilia as she came in carrying a covered metal platter.</p>
<p>	Remilia placed the platter down, but looked disapprovingly at the two girls.</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t the two of you be sitting at the ends of the table?  You are the mistresses of the house, after all.”</p>
<p>“But if we did that, I wouldn’t get to sit next to my darling Sakuya, right?” said Meiling without missing a beat.</p>
<p>“I suppose that’s true, and it’ll be easier to serve you your food too.  Speaking of which...”</p>
<p>	Remilia lifted the lid off of the platter to reveal the beautiful dish that she slaved to prepare.  On a pristine white plate sat a decadent, yellow and gray shape.  It had the distinct aroma of being extra well done, and was garnished with a piece of parsley and a whole, uncut avocado.</p>
<p>“Today’s breakfast is an omelet, formed into the shape of a heart.  As you two share this meal, your shared love will grow even stronger!”</p>
<p>	Remilia crossed her arms and stood proudly as if she was waiting for applause.  Sakuya and Meiling just looked at each other.  Neither one knew what to say, but they didn’t want to start eating either.</p>
<p>“Oh right,” said Remilia, “I’ll need to make a market list since now we’re out of eggs.  And milk.  And bay leaves.  And papaya.”</p>
<p>	Sakuya was certain that they hadn’t had any papaya in the first place and was terrified at the idea of what Remilia could have thought was one.  Sakuya was quite strong for a human, she could easily go toe-to-toe with many of the youkai in Gensokyo, but even so, she was still just a human.  If she ate this, getting sick would be the least of her worries.  Remilia worked so hard on the meal though, or at least she seemed to think she did.  If they didn’t eat any of it, she’d be disappointed and Sakuya didn’t want that.  She had to decide what to do, and she didn’t have a lot of time.  To her surprise though, Meiling spoke up first.</p>
<p>“Actually, Mistress-”</p>
<p>“‘Remilia’ is fine for today.”</p>
<p>“Remilia, I believe that Sakuya actually gets sick when she eats papaya.  She originally bought those on my request.  It might be better for her if you just prepare some toast and jam.”</p>
<p>“Really?  I had no idea!  I’m so sorry Mistress, I’ll go make your toast right away,” said Remilia as she darted back to the kitchen.</p>
<p>“Wow Meiling, that was some quick thinking.  Now we can get rid of this before she gets back so you won’t have to-” Sakuya was cut off as Meiling put a hand on her shoulder.</p>
<p>“That’s not going to work, unfortunately.”</p>
<p>	Meiling kissed Sakuya on the cheek and then just looked at her for a long moment.</p>
<p>“Meiling?”</p>
<p>“Our mistress is a vampire, she has stronger than average senses.  If I don’t eat any of this, she’ll certainly be able to tell from the smell of my breath, and I’m sure she’d be really disappointed after all the hard work she put in.”  Meiling gazed into Sakuya’s eyes and showed her the smile of a woman who had consigned herself to death.</p>
<p>“N-No… I’m sure we could-”</p>
<p>	Meiling kissed Sakuya again, on the lips this time.</p>
<p>“It’s alright my love.  If I don’t make it out of this, bury me in the garden, okay?”</p>
<p>	Meiling picked up a fork off of the tray and put some of the omelet in her mouth.  A cold chill ran up her spine.  It was like eating gravel and cigarette butts.  Even so she persevered, a second, a third bite, each one more difficult than the last.  Sakuya was on the verge of tears, this was simultaneously the most painful and romantic thing she had ever seen.  When she was almost halfway done, Remilia returned from the kitchen holding a plate of toast with jam on it.</p>
<p>“Oh my, Mistress Meiling, you really wolfed that down, I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it,” said Remilia as she put the plate down in front of Sakuya.  “Are you going to eat Mistress Sakuya’s portion as well?”</p>
<p>“I, uh,” said Meiling with a trembling voice, “I think I’m pretty full, actually. Tha- ugh, thank you though, it was... delicious.”</p>
<p>	Meiling stood up on shaky legs.</p>
<p>“Sakuya, dear, why don’t you finish your breakfast without me.  I need to use the bathroom.  Right now.”</p>
<p>“Mistress, are you alright?”</p>
<p>“I’m fine!  I’m- oof, I just- I need to- yeah.”</p>
<p>	Meiling half ran out of the room, holding her stomach.  A few moments later, even though the bathroom was all the way down the hall, Sakuya and Remilia could hear horrible, unspeakable sounds coming from Meiling.</p>
<p>“Oh my, perhaps papaya also makes her sick?” said Remilia.</p>
<p>“Mis- er, Remilia, I...” Sakuya sighed, saying anything now might create more problems than solve them.  Hopefully she could convince Remilia to let the other maids prepare the rest of the meals for the night.  “Thank you for the meal.”</p>
<p>	Sakuya guiltily took a bite from her toast.  It was burnt.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 3</p><p>	An hour and a half after breakfast, Remilia, Sakuya, and Meiling were resting in the parlor.  Meiling’s stomach was just starting to feel better after lying down for a while with her head on Sakuya’s lap.  Meanwhile, Sakuya had been reading the newspaper.  The articles she was actually interested in were the ones about local news, upcoming events, and other things that were actually newsworthy.  Despite this, Remilia, who was trying to read over Sakuya’s shoulder, had asked her to stop turning the pages so fast so she could read every article, even the ones full of likely unfounded rumors about a certain shrine maiden’s personal life.</p><p>“Wow, I can’t believe Reimu and Marisa are getting divorced,” said Remilia.</p><p>“They aren’t even married,” said Sakuya.</p><p>“Well yeah, duh, that what divorced means.”</p><p>	Sakuya quietly held back her annoyance, as she so often did.  Meiling, who had had her eyes shut for a while now, stirred and sat up.  She stretched a bit, yawned, and then rested her head on Sakuya’s shoulder.</p><p>“You know Sakuya, your lap has got to be magic or something.  It’s seriously the best pillow I’ve ever used.”</p><p>“Wow really?  I want to try!” said Remilia excitedly.</p><p>“Nope!  Sorry but her lap is all mine.”</p><p>“Aw, that’s not fair!  I-”</p><p>“Would you two mind taking this into another room?  I’d like to finish reading this if possible,” said Sakuya.</p><p>“Oh, come on Mistress, we’ve been just sitting around for so long, is this really how you want to spend your night?  Reading?”</p><p>“It’s important to read every night, and it’s even more important to keep up on current events.  I regularly read the newspaper during my breaks, so this is what I would be doing anyway.”</p><p>“Well recently you’ve been spending most of your breaks with me, I think,” said Meiling with a smug smile.</p><p>“I suppose that’s true, which is all the more reason for me to catch up on the news now.”</p><p>“But tonight’s a special night!  Don’t you think you should spend it doing things you wouldn’t be able to do as a maid?” said Remilia with clear frustration.  “If I was the mistress, I’d probably be bugging Patchy to cook up something fun to do.”</p><p>“You know, she might have a point, Sakuya.  I’m feeling a bit better myself so I’d be interested in doing something like that.”</p><p>	Sakuya sighed and folded up the newspaper.  As much as she didn’t want to wrap up Patchouli in this nonsense, she also knew that the two of them would probably do it even if Sakuya had refused.  Being in the room with them was the best way to minimize whatever damage they were going to do.</p><p>“Alright fine, but if she refuses then we’re not going to argue with her, okay?”</p><p>	The library of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was enormous.  It was filled with shelves that were fifteen feet tall and each one was stuffed with books.  There were books of all kinds, with information on magic, history, and practically any other subject one could hope to learn about.  It was no wonder that a witch like Patchouli spent most of her time here, it was a bookworm’s paradise.  The irony of Remilia complaining that they were spending too much time reading, and then insisting that they go to the library was not lost on Sakuya, but she decided to keep that to herself.</p><p>	Sakuya prided herself on the title she had earned: the perfect and elegant maid.  There was one thing, though, that had always bothered her.  No matter what she did, she was never able to keep the library completely dust free.  Even when she used her ability to stop time so she could clean without disturbing the settled dust, there were always little corners and spots that she missed.  She felt especially guilty about this because Patchouli had asthma, and keeping the room dust free should have been a priority.</p><p>	When Sakuya, Meiling, and Remilia entered the library, Sakuya’s keen sense for messes went off.  The room needed to be dusted.  Even with just a quick glance around the area near the door, she could see spots on the shelves that needed to be cleaned.  If she was being truthful, cleaning the entire library was not one of the more enjoyable tasks around the mansion.  It took the equivalent of several hours of effort, and she had to do it all herself, since the other maids were too lazy to do a proper job.  It needed to be done, though, and Sakuya’s instinct was to get started immediately.  Then she remembered her current position.  As the mistress of the mansion, it wasn’t her place to do chores.  She could, possibly, stop time and do a quick once over of the room, but there was a high chance that Remilia would notice, as she so often did when Sakuya used her powers.</p><p>	She decided that she would apologize to Patchouli later and clean the room first thing tomorrow.  In the middle of the room, Patchouli sat at her desk with her nose deep in a book as usual.  Next to Patchouli, Koakuma placed a small pile of books of varying size.  When she saw the trio walking into the room, she smiled and gave a little wave, and then headed back into the maze of shelves.</p><p>“Patchy!” said Remilia, “I hope we caught you at a good time.”</p><p>“You didn’t,” said Patchouli without looking away from her yuri manga.</p><p>“Well too bad, you’re going to entertain us for a while.”</p><p>	Patchouli sighed and put her book down.</p><p>“The other maids mentioned that you were acting as head maid tonight, though I can’t imagine why.  Is it really so much to ask that you don’t involve me in your shenanigans for once?  I’m very busy right now.”</p><p>“Oh, come on Patchy!  Tonight’s a special night for Sakuya and Meiling, won’t you spoil them a little?”</p><p>“Remi...”</p><p>	Patchouli looked down at Remilia, who was somehow simultaneously putting on puppy dog eyes while also scowling a little, like she was begging but also giving an order.  She then looked at Sakuya, who was avoiding eye contact and looking a little uncomfortable.  Then to Meiling, who was looking at Sakuya.  Then back to Remilia, who was full on scowling now.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>	Remilia let out a frustrated groan.</p><p>“But Patchy, I-”</p><p>“Now Remilia,” said Sakuya as she put a hand on Remilia’s shoulder, “you promised that we’d find something else to do if she was busy.  I didn’t even want to bother her in the first place.”</p><p>“Wait, you didn’t want to come here?” asked Patchouli.</p><p>“No, we only did on Remilia’s insistence.”</p><p>“That’s weird, if you’re the mistress for tonight, shouldn’t you decide where you go and what you do?  A lowly maid shouldn’t get to complain about that.”</p><p>	Sakuya felt as if a revelation had washed over her.  She was the one in charge.  If she wanted to do something, that was up to her.  She could even dust the library if she wanted to.  Then she had another thought, instead of her dusting the library, she could have…</p><p>“Remilia, I’ve decided what we’re going to do now.”</p><p>	In an instant, Remilia felt time freeze and unfreeze.  Suddenly, Sakuya was holding the newspaper that she was reading earlier and some cleaning rags.</p><p>“Even though I’m not acting as a maid tonight, my duties still need to be done.  I’d like you to dust the library as well as you can, and in the mean time, I’m going to finish reading my paper.”</p><p>	The look on Remilia’s face slowly changed from minor confusion, to abject horror as she suddenly had a revelation of her own.  Remilia had never once done an actual day’s work in her life.  She had always been pampered and taken care of, so the idea of having to clean a giant room like this was almost incomprehensible to her.</p><p>“Uh, Patchy?  You must have some kind of magic that can help me out here,” said Remilia, nervously.</p><p>“No, no, I just said that I wanted to be left out of your shenanigans.  This is the bed you ‘maid,’ and now you’re going to lie in it.  Actually, you probably haven’t made any beds so far, but I assume you’ll get to try that later.”</p><p>“Er, Mistress, wouldn’t you rather-”</p><p>“Come Remilia, I’ll show you how to properly wipe off the dust.”</p><p>	Sakuya walked past Remilia to the closest bookshelf and waited for her to follow.  Remilia looked around again for anything she could do or say to get out of having to do actual work.  Unfortunately for her, she found nothing.</p><p>“I- But- I… fine...”</p><p>	Dejected, Remilia accepted her fate and joined Sakuya by the shelves.</p><p>“Oh, by the way Meiling,” said Patchouli, “I actually found that book you asked me about.  Or, rather, Koakuma found a pile of unsorted books and it happened to be in there.”</p><p>	Patchouli reached into her desk and fished out a small text book named The Anatomy of Common Flowers.</p><p>“Nice!  I wasn’t sure if you’d actually be able to find it,” said Meiling, taking the book.</p><p>	Meiling sat down at one of the nearby reading tables and began skimming the pages of her new book.  A few minutes later, Sakuya sat down next to her with a sigh.  She put her newspaper down on the table, but instead of opening it, she just rested her head on Meiling’s shoulder.</p><p>“Having trouble?” asked Meiling.</p><p>“I’m sure she’ll start to get the hang of it eventually.  She has to, right?”</p><p>	Just then, there was the distinct sound of numerous books falling off a shelf and landing on a tiny vampire.  Koakuma rushed over to where Remilia was and started cleaning up.  Sakuya just closed her eyes and groaned.</p><p>	The two of them sat like this for several minutes.  The only noises in the room were the sound of pages turning and the hushed voices of Remilia and Koakuma arguing while trying to clean.</p><p>“So what are you reading?” asked Sakuya.</p><p>“Ah, this is like, a biology textbook I guess?  I heard about it and figured that I might be able to get better at gardening flowers if I read more about them, but… I’m not sure how useful it’ll be to know about the cell structure of a daisy.”</p><p>	Sakuya let out a little laugh.</p><p>“Are you still going to read it?”</p><p>“Well yeah, I’ll at least give it a look through, but maybe I’ll just stick to gardening books from now on.”</p><p>	To both Meiling and Sakuya’s surprise, Patchouli came over and sat down in the seat across from them.</p><p>“I’m sorry,” said Meiling, “were we talking too loud?”</p><p>“No, you’re fine.  I just can’t focus on reading while staring at those two idiots.”</p><p>	Patchouli pointed over her shoulder to where Remilia was now rearranging the books on the shelf, much to Koakuma’s distress.</p><p>“But anyway, I was wondering, what happened with you two?  I had no idea you were into each other.”</p><p>“Well, if I’m being honest,” said Sakuya, “there was a part of me that always admired Meiling’s diligence.  Even if she occasionally fell asleep at her post, there’s only ever been two people who have gotten past her.  I can’t blame her for that though, since I doubt any of us could have stopped Reimu or Marisa either.  Besides that, I’ll admit that there’s been a few times where I’ve found myself watching her work out.”</p><p>“Haven’t we all?”</p><p>“You know, you two are free to join me any time,” said Meiling.</p><p>“Not a chance,” said Sakuya and Patchouli simultaneously.</p><p>“And what about you Meiling?  How’d you figure you were into Sakuya?”</p><p>“I’m… I’m not so sure how you fall in love with someone can be explained so easily.  You can call me dense if you want for taking so long to realize, but at some point I just started getting butterflies in my stomach every time I looked at her.  I wanted to hold her in my arms and tell her how much she meant to me.  And now that I get to do that...” Meiling leaned down and kissed the top of Sakuya’s head, “I just couldn’t be happier.  Sakuya is the cutest, most caring person I’ve ever met, and having her here with me makes life worth living.”</p><p>	Sakuya covered the blush on her cheeks by hiding her face behind Meiling’s shoulder.</p><p>“Dummy...”</p><p>	Patchouli, on the other hand, didn’t have a buff arm to hide with and her completely-red face was blatantly obvious.  She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a notepad and pen and started writing something down.</p><p>“Ignore me, I’m just making some reference material.”</p><p>	Meiling didn’t know exactly what Patchouli was talking about, so she just smiled and waited for her to finish writing.  The three of them chatted for a while longer.  The whole time, Meiling continued to say embarrassingly straightforward things that Patchouli would write down for some reason.  The three of them were so engrossed in their conversation, that none of them noticed that Remilia was nowhere to be found.</p><p>	Suddenly, there was a loud crashing noise from somewhere near the back of the library.  Sakuya and Meiling wasted no time jumping out of their seats to go investigate.  Patchouli wasted a little time by moving more slowly than the other two.  It was easy to find the source of the noise as books started to be thrown out from behind a bookshelf.</p><p>	When Sakuya and Meiling rounded the corner it took them a moment to understand exactly what they were looking at.  It appeared to be a huge, writhing mass of arms and legs, but rather than flesh, they appeared to be made out of dust.  On the ground near the creature was Remilia, she wasn’t obviously injured in any way, but she appeared to be stunned and wasn’t moving.  Sakuya and Meiling looked at each other in confusion for a moment.</p><p>“Well this is… Unsettling,” said Meiling.</p><p>“Indeed,” said Sakuya as she pulled out a handful of knives from somewhere in her dress, “but don’t worry, I’ll have this handled in less than an instant.”</p><p>	Sakuya felt a burst of energy leave her body as everything around her turned gray and slowed to a halt.  Time had stopped.  Before making her attack, she paused to examine the being in front of her.  It was a truly ugly thing.  It had no head or eyes to speak of, just a twelve foot tall assortment of limbs connected together in its center like a knotted ball.  The fact that it was made out of dust was the strangest part though.  Where did it come from, and why?  Sakuya or anyone else in the library certainly would have noticed it before.  In any case, she needed to rid the mansion of it, and she only knew one good way to do that.</p><p>	Sakuya clutched the throwing knives in her hand and activated her power over time once again.  She moved her hand through the air.  Three knives became six.  Six became twelve.  By using her ability to slightly adjust when and where an object was in spacetime, she was effectively able to clone it.  Once she had over a hundred knives at her disposal, she began throwing them.  She grabbed several at a time, and threw them towards the creature’s center.  The knives didn’t move far past her hand when she let go, as once they weren’t touching her they would be subjected to the effects of the frozen time again.</p><p>	After she had thrown all of the knives, Sakuya admired her work.  Every knife hung in the air perfectly aimed, a rain of death, waiting to be released on her foe.  She considered the idea that maybe she had gone a little overboard, but decided that it was better to be sure that she killed it in one move, rather than risking leaving it alive and allowing it to continue to damage the books.</p><p>“Time resumes,” said Sakuya, as she felt another burst of energy.</p><p>	In an instant color returned to the world around her, and Sakuya watched as her violent array of blades was released.  The knives flew at lightning speed towards the creature and all simultaneously pierced into it… And then passed cleanly through, seemingly causing no harm.</p><p>	Sakuya was shocked, to say the least.  Did her attack seriously just completely fail?  The enormous amount of knives sticking into the bookshelf past the creature were clear evidence of that.</p><p>“Hey!  Watch out!”</p><p>	Meiling’s voice snapped Sakuya to attention, allowing her to just barely dodge out of the way from one of the creatures swinging limbs.  She moved back a bit and stood next to Meiling.</p><p>“I… Thank you.  I’m not sure what just happened, but it doesn’t seem that I’ll be able to fight using my normal skills.”</p><p>“Then maybe I should give it a shot,” said Meiling, stepping forward.</p><p>	The creature seemed to recognize her approach, as it began thrashing its limbs more violently and made a terrible noise that sounded like sand paper rubbing on gravel.</p><p>“Look, I don’t know what the hell you are, but I’m not just gonna let you do whatever you want,” said Meiling, as she took a crane stance.</p><p>	Meiling stood perfectly still on one leg with her other knee raised in front of her.  Her breathing became steady and she closed her eyes.  A faint aura of light began surrounding her, which grew brighter and brighter into a beautiful rainbow of color.  Sakuya realized that it probably should have been obvious that Meiling was gay.</p><p>	The creature lurched forward and swung with several of its limbs all at once.  To some, this may have seemed like an intimidating attack that would need to be avoided completely.  To Meiling though, it was an attack with power and nothing else.  No grace, refinement, or discipline, and a move like that was easy to counter.</p><p>	She waited for the exact right instant, and then unleashed her own attack.  She moved so she was only centimeters out of the way of one of its arms and kicked with her poised leg.  She hit the creature’s arm with one swift strike.  The impact caused a ripple to run all the way up the creature’s arm and caused it to start wobbling like it was made out of water.  Then she struck again, with her palm this time.</p><p>	She hit the arm with all her might, and her aura grew to match her intensity.  The wobbling of the creature’s arm spread to its entire body now.  The ripples grew more and more violent until the creature was a completely distorted, shaking mess.  Meiling let loose her final attack, another kick, right into the creature’s center.  When her foot hit the shaking mass, it burst like a balloon.  Dust flew up into the air and started spreading all around them, slowly falling down like snow in the winter.</p><p>	At this moment, Remilia, who had been laying on the ground the whole time, began to stir.</p><p>“Huh?  What happened?” she asked as she groggily looked around.  “I was cleaning and then… oh.  Uh oh.”</p><p>	Standing over her were Sakuya with her arms crossed, and Meiling with her full gay aura on display.  Remilia suddenly felt like maybe she should explain what happened.</p><p>“Alright, so, I know this looks bad-”</p><p>“That’s putting it lightly,” said Sakuya.</p><p>“Yes, okay, it’s really bad, but anyway I was just cleaning, and doing a great job by the way, when I realized that it was taking way too long.  Since Patchy so rudely decided not to help me with some of her magic, I decided to do it myself.  I found a spell that looked like it could gather up all the dust so I could wipe it all up at once.  The creature I made got a cheap shot in though so-”</p><p>“Remilia, that’s enough,” said Sakuya, pinching her brow.  “You’re clearly having trouble following my instructions-”</p><p>“Well maybe if your way of doing it wasn’t so boring-”</p><p>“Hey, hey,” said Meiling, dropping her aura, “let’s not fight okay?  I’m sure we can come to a mutual understanding if-”</p><p>“What the hell did you guys do?!” yelled Patchouli, finally arriving on the scene.</p><p>	With several bookcases and numerous books damaged, Patchouli had the right to be angry, but even so, Meiling didn’t want this to end in an argument if possible.</p><p>“Well, Patchouli, y’see what happened is-”</p><p>“Has she been stabbing my books?!”</p><p>	Meiling turned to look at the enormous amount of knives that Sakuya had thrown into the previously undamaged books.  She looked at Patchouli again, her face was angrier than Meiling ad ever seen it.  Suddenly she felt a little less confident that she could deescalate the situation.</p><p>“Technically, I believe they’re my books,” said Remilia.</p><p>“Death.  I sentence you all to d- Gak!”</p><p>	Patchouli looked like she was about to freak out, but was cut off by a fit of coughing and wheezing.  The dust.  There was still some dust in the air that was falling down and her asthma must have not reacted well to it.</p><p>	Sakuya ran over to try and help her, but Patchouli brushed her off.  Instead, Koakuma, finally realizing that something was wrong, came and took Patchouli by the arm.  She started leading her over to her desk so she’d be able to sit down.</p><p>“Get- cuh cuh!  Get out!  Now-” Patchouli was coughing so hard she could barely get a word out.</p><p>	Sakuya, Meiling, and Remilia, understanding that it would probably be best to leave the two of them alone for a while, quickly left the library.</p><p>“Well I hope you’re happy, Mistresses, now Patchy is angrier than ever!”</p><p>	Sakuya rarely drank alcohol, but she had a serious desire to not be sober right now.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 4</p><p>	After Sakuya, Meiling, and Remilia left the library, they took a little time to clean themselves off and change their clothes, as they were covered in dust from the monster.  They decided to go to the garden since Meiling still needed to tend to it, even if she was taking the night off.  The plants would need to be watered at the very least.</p><p>	The garden of the Scarlet Devil Mansion was truly a sight to behold.  It was huge and filled with a wide variety of beautiful flowers from lilies to asters to hydrangea to roses, all grown from seeds by Meiling.  The most amazing part was that the flowers growing here normally didn’t all bloom in the months of the year, yet they were all blooming simultaneously.  Meiling had considered that maybe Sakuya had tampered with time to cause this to happen, but that didn’t seem very likely.  Rather, Meiling was probably just the best gardener in history and the flowers were rushing to meet her.</p><p>	Near the flower beds, Sakuya sat at a garden table sipping some freshly brewed tea.  Remilia actually managed to prepare the tea herself, thanks to some careful instruction from Sakuya, and she only spilled once the whole time.  Sakuya was also reading her newspaper again.  She realized after reaching the garden that she had left it in the library, so she used her time manipulation to sneak in and grab it without disturbing Patchouli.</p><p>	Remilia was torn.  She effectively had three options at this point: she could continue to be bored watching Sakuya read her paper, she could be bored watching Meiling water the flowers, or she could leave to do something else.  The issue with leaving to do something else was that if she wasn’t waiting on one of her mistresses, she would be expected to do some other kind of work around the house, and she obviously didn’t want that.  Meiling seemed the most likely to at least offer good conversation so she decided to go with that.  Remilia quietly slipped away from the table Sakuya was sitting at and walked over to Meiling.</p><p>“Mistress, how goes the watering?”</p><p>“Hm?  Oh, it’s going alright… Actually, do you want to try?” asked Meiling while holding the garden hose a little closer to Remilia.</p><p>“No!  Or, rather, I can’t.  As a vampire I don’t handle running water very well, so holding a hose is impossible.”</p><p>“Right, right, running water.  Can you use a watering can instead?”</p><p>“I can’t say I’ve ever tried.”</p><p>“Well how about we find out then?  Sakuya!  Could you get my watering c- oh!”</p><p>	Remilia felt Sakuya activate her power again as she disappeared from her seat and reappeared next to Meiling holding a green watering can.</p><p>“Thanks dear,” said Meiling, taking the can and kissing Sakuya on the cheek.</p><p>	Sakuya just smiled and went to sit back down.  Meiling filled up the can most of the way and held it out towards Remilia.  With a slightly shaky hand, Remilia grabbed onto the handle.  It was a little heavier than she expected but otherwise she didn’t seem to have any trouble holding it.  She extended her arm as far as she could and leaned forward, trying to hold the can as far from her body as possible.  She even stood on her tippy toes to try and get a little more distance.  She began pouring the water into the petunias in front of her.  Remilia winced a little in anticipation of her body rejecting the action, but the feeling never came.  Perhaps it was because the handle of the watering can was on the back and therefor not near the water that was being poured, but she didn’t seem to have any trouble.</p><p>	A big smile crept onto Remilia’s face.  Meiling smiled too as she watched Remilia happily water all the flowers in the patch.  When the can was empty, Remilia held it out to Meiling who began pouring more water in it.  A couple of drops of water splashed out and landed on Remilia’s hand, which sent a shiver up her spine.  They moved on to the next patch of flowers and Remilia continued to water them.</p><p>“What are these ones called, Mistress?” asked Remilia, while watering some purple flowers.</p><p>“Hydrangea, they’re pretty aren’t they?  They’re native to east Asia, but I’ve heard they grow in America too.”</p><p>“Really?  What’s America like?”</p><p>“I’m honestly not sure.  Although, I bet Patchouli has some books that talk about it.”</p><p>“Bleh, I don’t want to know that bad.  Besides, Patchy is probably still mad about the monster thing.”</p><p>“She might be willing to read the books aloud to you if you apologize.  I think she’d forgive you faster too.”</p><p>“It wasn’t all my fault, you know,” Remilia paused her watering and looked at Meiling.  “Sakuya’s knives wrecked a lot of books too.”</p><p>“That’s true,” said Meiling, “Sakuya will have to apologize as well.  You can do it together.”</p><p>	Meiling put the hose on the ground and walked over to Remilia.  She crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder.</p><p>“And, if she’s still mad, that’s okay.  That just means you might need to do something nice for her to show her that you really mean it.  Does that sound good?”</p><p>“Mm hm,” said Remilia, nodding  and looking a little dejected.</p><p>“Actually, did you know that when you give someone, the flowers all have different meanings?”</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yup!  Red roses are for romantic love, daisies are for innocence and hope, and hydrangea represent gratitude for being understood.  I bet if you give Patchouli a vase with some hydrangea in it when you apologize, she’ll be more willing to forgive you,” said Meiling with a big smile.</p><p>	Remilia smiled too and nodded again, with a little more energy this time.  The two of them spent a while watering the different patches of flowers and chatting.  Remilia asked about the different meanings of all the flowers as they went along.</p><p>“There sure are a lot of flowers that represent love, Mistress.”</p><p>“Yeah, Sakuya and I planted some of these flowers together, so I thought it would be nice to fill the garden with love.  Although, she didn’t actually know the meaning behind the flowers at first.  I didn’t want to tell her at the time since we weren’t dating yet.”</p><p>	Remilia paused for a moment and stared at Meiling in thought.</p><p>“You really love Sakuya, don’t you?”</p><p>“I do,” Meiling glanced over at Sakuya, then back to Remilia.  “A few weeks ago, after the flowers we planted started to bloom, I took her out here.  I pointed to each one and started telling her what they meant, kinda like what we were just doing.  One after another, I said that the flowers we grew together represented love, and I told her how I felt.  I think she’d get mad if she found out I told you this next part, but she was so happy that she started crying.”</p><p>	Remilia let out a small laugh.</p><p>“I think I’ve only seen her cry once,” said Remilia.  “It was when she told me she was a girl, and wanted to be a maid instead of a butler.  I was really happy for her and we started talking about getting her a new maid outfit and stuff and she started crying.  She said it was because she was happy though.  Maybe she only cries when she’s happy?”</p><p>“Well I’m not sure that’s what it is...”</p><p>“Meiling!  Be sure to make Sakuya cry a lot!  Okay?”</p><p>“Yeah, okay, okay.  I’ll do my best,” said Meiling with a laugh.</p><p>	Sakuya could have sworn she’d overheard something strange, but decided it was best to just ignore it.</p><p>“Maybe you could give her some flowers to keep in the house, I bet she would like that,” said Remilia.</p><p>“Actually, I was planning on making a bouquet for her recently, but we started having an aphid infestation and I had to deal with that first.  I suppose I could make it now, though, since they’re gone.”</p><p>	Meiling put the hose away since they were about done watering and went to get her clippers.  When she got back, she and Remilia started picking out flowers to use as part of the bouquet.  It went well, but slowly, for a while, as Remilia was insistent that Sakuya was too discerning to allow imperfect flowers in her presence.  Meiling wasn’t sure where Remilia had gotten that idea from, but she was having fun anyway so she decided to go along with it.</p><p>“We can’t use this one, it’s missing some pedals on one side,” said Remilia, pointing to a red rose.  “And this one is too lightly colored, so it doesn’t match the others.”</p><p>“We already have a couple roses, so maybe we should pick out some other flowers?”</p><p>“But roses are the most important, aren’t they?  They’re what you think of when you think of love, Sso we should get the biggest, prettiest rose and put it right in the middle!”</p><p>“I guess I can’t argue with that logic,” said Meiling.  “Actually, I should go get a vase to put these ones in while we’re picking out the rest, I’ll be right back.  Okay?”</p><p>	Remilia nodded and waved her off before continuing to look for the most beautiful rose.  Not that one, or that one.  That one was hardly good enough to be the centerpiece, but it was at least worthy of being on the outside.  Remilia realized that Meiling had forgotten to leave the clippers when she left, but she didn’t want to have to hold on to the stem the entire time until she got back.  Even if she was a vampire, it still hurt to hold her arm in a thorny bush.</p><p>	She could call Sakuya over, but it would ruin the surprise.  Besides, it would be wrong to bother her mistress over something so trivial.  It would be simple enough to cleanly cut through the stem with a single, well placed danmaku bullet.  She felt a small amount of energy build up in her, and then release.</p><p>	Remilia looked at the near perfect rose she now held in her hand.  Then she looked at the gaping hole she had left in the rose bush.  Oops.  Well it probably wasn’t a big deal, if Meiling was really such a good gardener, then she’d be able to fix it later.  At least the flower she picked was in good condition.</p><p>	As Remilia was wondering where she should put her rose, something caught her eye near the ground.  It was a rose, but it was the biggest, most beautiful rose she had ever seen, and somehow it had evaded her until just now.  As she was going to grab it though, something else caught her eye.  Crawling towards the rose bush was a big, ugly stink bug.  Didn’t Meiling say before that they had just gotten rid of all the bugs that were infesting the rose bushes?  As the head maid and Meiling’s wonderful gardening assistant, Remilia couldn’t possibly let any bugs near the flowers.</p><p>	Remilia was about to reach out to squish the bug, but then stopped herself.  If this was a stink bug, then getting too close to it meant that she might get the smell on her!  She couldn’t have that.  It would probably be better to just shoot it with a danmaku bullet.  It didn’t go so well before, but now she knew that she just needed to be more careful.</p><p>	Remilia raised her free hand, took aim, and fired.  And missed.  How could she miss?  It was like two feet away!  Well whatever.  She fired again.  And again.  And again.  Missing over and over was extremely frustrating.  Firing single shots like this wasn’t normally how she fought, it was all about quantity, not aim.  Maybe shooting one small burst would be okay, after all, she had only damaged the walkway a little and destroyed a few imperfect roses so far.</p><p>	She felt a larger amount of energy build up this time.  There was no way some stupid bug was going to survive this.  She pointed her arm at her target, and launched an array of energy towards the ground in front of her.  There was a terrible smashing noise as the cement was hit by the barrage.  Remilia coughed a little as the dust cleared, and when it did, she saw the stink bug flying away.  Did Reimu train this thing?!  Frustrated she began to-</p><p>“Remilia!  What just happened?!”</p><p>	Sakuya, alerted by the noise and flashing lights, rushed onto the scene.  There, she was greeted by debris and several rose bushes that had been torn to shreds.</p><p>	Remilia looked around and finally took in the results of her recklessness.  It took Meiling and Sakuya so long to grow these flowers, and in a moment she had destroyed them.</p><p>“Oops,” said Remilia, not sure what else to say.</p><p>“What?  Remilia, are you okay?  What happened?”</p><p>	Sakuya rushed over to Remilia and started checking her for wounds and brushing off some of the dirt that got onto her dress.</p><p>“Um, Meiling and I were picking flowers and she went to get a vase and there was bug that I was trying to shoot but I kept missing and-”</p><p>“Wait did you do this?  Did you destroy our rose bushes?”</p><p>“...Yeah, I’m sorry,” said Remilia, looking dejectedly down at her feet.</p><p>“Remilia I… I… I can’t believe this.  How could you?”</p><p>	Remilia felt her stomach drop, she may have messed up worse than she realized.</p><p>“I’m sorry!  It was an accident!”</p><p>“An accident?  How do you do all this as an accident?” asked Sakuya while gesturing to the broken stone and torn apart bushes.</p><p>“I had to… get the bug...”</p><p>“Didn’t you understand how important these flowers were to us?  They were something Meiling and I could truly call our own and look what you did to them.”</p><p>	Remilia saw drops of something started dripping onto the ground in front of her.  She looked up at Sakuya’s face and realized she was crying.  But, if she was crying, didn’t that mean…</p><p>“You’re not happy, right?”</p><p>	Sakuya looked at Remilia with a confused, angry expression.</p><p>“Of course I’m not happy!  How could I possibly be happy with this?!”</p><p>“I… I’m sorry!”</p><p>	Remilia broke away from Sakuya and ran off as her eyes began to tear up as well.  As she was running, she went past Meiling who was finally returning with the vase.</p><p>“Remilia?!  What are you...”</p><p>	Meiling was obviously confused, but if Remilia was running off crying then something had happened.  She rushed back to where the roses were but stopped in her tracks when she saw the carnage.  On top of that, in the middle of it all was Sakuya, sitting on her knees and crying her eyes out.  Her heart sank, but she knew she needed to remain calm and figure out the situation.</p><p>	Meiling carefully put the vase down on the ground and walked over to Sakuya.  She crouched down and put a hand on Sakuya’s shoulder, startling her a little.  Sakuya recoiled for a moment, but when she recognized that it was Meiling she pulled her into a hug and cried into her shoulder.  The two of them sat there like this for a few minutes until Sakuya calmed down.</p><p>“Sweetie I… Are you all right?  Can we talk?”</p><p>	Sakuya nodded, and looked up to meet Meiling’s gaze.</p><p>“This is… It’s horrible.  What happened here?  I saw Remilia running away when I was coming back...” said Meiling.</p><p>“Remilia, she… She destroyed our roses.”</p><p>	Meiling held back a flinch.  She knew that it had probably been Remilia’s fault but it still hurt to hear, especially since they had been bonding over them earlier.  She paused for a moment and thought about what she needed to ask.</p><p>“Did she do it on purpose?”</p><p>“I don’t think so, but what she was saying didn’t make a lot of sense.  I lost my temper and she ran off and I just… I don’t know what to do,” said Sakuya, as more tears rolled down her cheeks.</p><p>“Did you yell at her?”</p><p>“...I did.”</p><p>“I see.”</p><p>	There was silence.  The two of them just sat there for a bit, with Meiling holding Sakuya close to her.</p><p>“I think…” said Meiling, “I think you should go talk to her, and maybe apologize for yelling.”</p><p>“Wait, you think I should be the one to apologize?!”</p><p>	Sakuya broke out of the hug, shocked at Meiling’s suggestion.</p><p>“Yes.  I know that you’re upset, I’m upset too, and we have every right to be angry about this.  But, if this really was an accident, then I don’t think yelling is the right thing to do.”</p><p>“But she-”</p><p>“Sakuya,” said Meiling, in a slightly sterner tone than usual, “we all make mistakes.  Even you, like earlier when you damaged those books in the library.”</p><p>	Meiling paused and took a deep breath before continuing.  She reverted to her softer manner of speaking.</p><p>“I know that it’s easy to forget because we’ve known her for so long, but our mistress is still a child.  I find that when dealing with kids, you get a lot farther by just talking out your problems.  I think she already knows that she did something wrong, and I think just telling her how it made you feel would be much more effective, especially if it was an accident.”</p><p>	Meiling put a hand on one of Sakuya’s shoulders, and Sakuya put a hand on top of that.</p><p>“When I messed up as a kid and my parents yelled at me, it didn’t make me try harder the next time, it just made me resent them.  Now that I’m basically the one in their position, I want to make the effort to be better.  I love you Sakuya, but I love everyone else here too, so I want us to all get along as well as possible.”</p><p>“You always know just what to say,” said Sakuya with a sad smile.</p><p>	The two of them stood up and took another moment to survey the wreckage.</p><p>“I guess I’ll start cleaning this up,” said Meiling.  “Will you be okay on your own?”</p><p>“I think so, thank you.”</p><p>“Alright, I think she went towards the front of the mansion so maybe look there- oh!  Actually, before you go...”</p><p>	Meiling rushed over to the planter with the hydrangeas in it, clipped a small bundle of them off, and took it over to Sakuya.</p><p>“Gratitude for being understood...” said Sakuya.</p><p>“Why don’t you give her these when you apologize?  I think they’ll help.”</p><p>	Sakuya took the flowers and nodded. Then, she turned and started walking towards the front door.  Meiling watched her go until she went around the corner.  When she was sure she was gone, Meiling went over to the table where Sakuya had been reading before, sat down, and began to cry.</p><p>	When the front stairs of the Scarlet Devil Mansion came into view, Sakuya saw Remilia sitting on the top step with her face buried in her knees.  Sakuya took a deep breath, and approached.  She sat down next to Remilia and waited a moment to see if she’d say or do anything.  Remilia didn’t react.</p><p>“Um, Remilia, would it be alright if we talked?”</p><p>	Remilia nodded without looking up or speaking.  Internally, Sakuya let out a sigh of relief.</p><p>“I’m sorry that I, um... I’m sorry that I yelled at you.  I know you didn’t destroy our roses on purpose, and yelling like that wasn’t the right thing to do.”</p><p>	Remilia turned her head towards Sakuya a little and looked at her.  Remilia’s eyes were normally red, but now her eyes were even more red from crying.</p><p>“Are you still angry?” she quietly asked.</p><p>“I’m still sad, but I’m not angry.  Although, do you remember last night when I said that you were too controlling?  When I said that, maybe ‘controlling’ wasn’t the right word.  You speak your mind a lot and you like to do things your way, and sometimes that can cause problems, but it can be good too.  I remember when I wanted to change my name and was having trouble deciding.  I’ll never forget what you said to me, ‘I like Sakuya, it’s a beautiful name, which is a perfect fit for someone as beautiful as you.’  That really touched me.”</p><p>	Sakuya held out the hydrangea and blushed a little, embarrassed at how open she was trying to be.  Remilia took the flower and tears ran down her face.  For a moment, Sakuya thought she had said something wrong again but her fears were dismissed when Remilia suddenly hugged Sakuya.  She wrapped one arm around Remilia and gently rubbed her head with her other hand.  After a couple minutes of this, Remilia stopped crying and pulled away to look at Sakuya.</p><p>“I’m really sorry I killed your rose bushes, I wasn’t being careful and I accidentally ripped them apart.”</p><p>“I forgive you.  I don’t think you killed all of them anyway, so we’ll only need to replace some of them.  I think Meiling has already forgiven you, but make sure you tell her too, okay?”</p><p>	Remilia nodded and smiled, and seeing that, Sakuya felt like a little weight was taken off her chest.  There was just one more thing she had to do.  Sakuya took off the puffy, pink had she was still wearing and held it out to Remilia.</p><p>“Mistress, why don’t we be done with this silly game?  I appreciate you wanting to support Meiling and me, but I think I’d like to go back to normal for now.”</p><p>“Aww,” said Remilia, taking the hat from her.  “We went outside right after cleaning up so I didn’t even get to make lunch for everyone...”</p><p>	Sakuya shivered a little at the idea of being served any more of Remilia’s so-called cooking.</p><p>“If you really want, I can show you how I cook.  We can make something simple together,” said Sakuya, removing her headband from Remilia’s hair.</p><p>“Okay!  I wan’t to make a soufflé!”</p><p>“Well, why don’t we start with something a little simpler?”</p><p>	The two girls laughed a little as they got up to go find Meiling.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Epilogue</p><p>	The rest of the day passed mostly without any major incidents.  Sakuya and Remilia apologized to Patchouli about the books being damaged and they gave her some hydrangeas too.  She was still annoyed, but she had already read the books in question, so as long as Remilia promised to get them repaired, then she said she’d forgive them.</p><p>	Remilia helped Sakuya make some sandwiches for everyone.  Remilia was very proud of herself for not burning the bread while toasting it this time.  Of course, that was only because Sakuya was there, but she decided to not say anything that would ruin Remilia’s mood.  They even invited Flandre up to eat with them, and as a reward for good behavior, everyone played with her until it was time to go to bed.</p><p>	Soon, several nights passed, and it seemed that everything had gone back to normal in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.</p><p>	Meiling finished wrapping up the hose and took a deep breath.  They had cleaned up all the dead rose bush parts and broken concrete, and she and Sakuya had planted some new bushes.  Meiling walked over to the new plants and started looking them over.  They had been planted from seeds, and it had only been a couple days, but she could already see them sprouting up a little from the soil.  She really was just that good.</p><p>“How are they coming along?” came a voice from behind her.</p><p>	Sakuya stepped up next to Meiling and started looking over the soil as well.</p><p>“Good, so far.  At this rate they’ll be back to where they were before in a few weeks, probably.”</p><p>“Well, maybe a little longer, since we won’t be here next week.”</p><p>“I showed Koakuma how to take care of them earlier, so I’m sure they’ll be fine while we’re gone.”</p><p>	Remilia, still feeling a little guilty about not giving them a proper day to be together, insisted that Sakuya and Meiling take a week off of work to relax.</p><p>“You know, I really think you’re going to enjoy the hot springs, it can really do wonders for you,” said Meiling.</p><p>“I’m not sure how it’s any different than a normal bath, but I suppose we’ll see soon,” said Sakuya.</p><p>	The two of them smiled and gazed into each other’s eyes for a moment, until Sakuya’s expression saddened a little.</p><p>“Actually, Meiling, there was something I wanted to say.”</p><p>“Yeah, is everything okay?” asked Meiling, suddenly very concerned.</p><p>“It’s, well...” Sakuya fidgeted a little, she was clearly struggling.  “I just, I wanted to thank you.  I know that I’m not that good at expressing myself properly, so when I try to, it doesn’t always come out right.  You’ve been so patient, and caring, and kind, I’m not sure I deserve to be with someone as amazing as you.”</p><p>	Meiling gently put her hands on Sakuya’s shoulders and showed her the softest smile she could muster.</p><p>“It’s not about deserving.  I love you Sakuya.  I love all of you, and I don’t say that lightly.  I’m happy to move at whatever pace you feel comfortable with.”</p><p>	Sakuya put her hand on Meiling’s cheek, and they both leaned in.  They kissed each other.  It was long and passionate and incredibly warm.  When their lips finally parted, they paused for a moment, and then kissed again, and again.  Sakuya had to pull away before it became a full, public make out session.</p><p>“I think we should head inside,” said Sakuya, taking Meiling’s hand in her own.</p><p>“I’d love that,” said Meiling.</p><p>“And I love you,” said Sakuya.</p><p>“And I love you too.”</p>
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